18 which a storm was beating in fury. "Raining," he said. Mr. Aberdeen glanced at the win- dow. "Looks like it," he said cautiously. "I want to consult you," said Mr. Carter. "On business." "Corne to my office. Phone my secre- f . " tary or an appoIntment. " I I " want to consu t you now. " H .... " ave you got an appoIntmentt " N b t " 0, u- "I can fix that." Mr. Aberdeen drew forth a small book labelled "Appoint- ments." "Carter is the name? " He wrote "Carter" in the appropriate place. Mr. Carter told his story. It did not take him long. 13y Mount Vernon, the stark tale was ended. Mr. Aberdeen stared out the win- dow. "It is the old, old story," he said. "That's right." "And now you want my advice, to get you out of the trouble you have got yourself into. Well, my advice is"-he turned to his companion and spoke with his courtroom manner, but in a whisper, because of all the people around-"my advice to you is that you come clean. :F'ace the facts. Tell the truth and let fate do its worst." "But the disgrace! \\That a terrible thing for my family! And for me! I don't want to go to prison. I'm not the prison type at all." "Better a lifetime in prison with a clear conscience than freedom tortured by remorse and indigestion." "I see what you meah. And yet I thought somehow that you might have another way." 1\;1 r. Aberdeen stared at the Botanical Garden, fleeting past in the rain. "There may be another way. A way which, mind you, I do not recommend. In fact, take it that I am cautioning you against it. You say that this embezzling system of yours is really workable? " "Certainly." "..A..nd you could embezzle S011le l1lore . h . I "'" WIt out gettIng caug 1t t - "Of course." "I can imagine this situation. I can .. . . ImagIne a person In your CIrcumstances embezzling forty thousand dollars more. I take you for a hypothetical example of such a person. You would go to the directors and tell them that you have taken eighty thousand dollars but that you have decided to go straight. And if they will be merciful and not prosecute, ,ou will be able to restore forty thousand dollars. If they refuse, you will probably go to jail. But you are likely to go there anyway. i\.nd it is better to be in jail with forty thousand dollars than with- LOV SONG As caravans over some antique, moon-luminous desert Carne to oases, or as the prophetic l\IIagi Followed past mountains their fierce, unbelievable star, My thoughts, with all humility, and my humble passion Go where you are. You are neither woman nor mother, hut formed of both; Y ou are soft in your movements; the sun strikes you discreetly. In your eyes are held the past and the subtle future; F or them I would face the lion crouched in the covert Or the surgeon's suture. You are grave in gesture. Oh, Ovid and all the ancients Could not describe the way you hold your body, Nor a deceitful i\.thenian working in marble M old you, nor any empress see you 111irrored Upon her table. The soft sparrow sings as you pass hi111 in his poplar, i\.nd the river slows its sound, and the sea grows sluggish; \Vhere you walk the meadows flourish, and the days Move in a stately pageant of admiration To speak your praise. From a world of solemn madmen I shall turn My mind and hunt you across the curved horizons; I shall cross five continents and a hundred ranges To come where the days are blue and the nights silver, And there are no strangers. Though the rivers be flooded and the passes guarded, i\.nd the countries rough and the inhabitants evil, i\.nd grinning death running beside me, and cruel war, I shall, though it be at the end of earth or heaven, Corne where you are. . out anything. In jail, small comforts mean so much." ((You have shown me-or such a person-a way," said Mr. Carter, ra- diant in the tunnel. "Such a person win set ahout immediately embezzling forty th 0 usan d dollars " "Such a person would do well to 111ake it forty-five thousand dollars. Five . . . .........;,.,...;"':""..".".,,..,..:...... .. ,... ... :,'\ t *t :::: :; ?:::: :;::i.h W'- tl '. i ::::::; f : $t .;:.: l .:it , '.' \' ''4i '''..a. 4-...; . :: 1;:!::: :;' - t.' ,. . .r:.: ;': l .,:", W r1 ..J::::: . .... ..-.: I II.. h:ii.:. '/ ::: \: ..> . rf'tt \!! /tI, · : " , ":I. I :,.:' I . ' "/1';,, -- . r; I' : · 1:/:,-.,:,: . f " --:::: J I' ; . " :: 'i.. ". l, . '- :':: i' '/, j] ..' ;. ..... \ .. *. \:1. :.;.;. ;..; . ",: . " I ;. ' r 1':., · ) ; ".'. .....6: I :', ,.? ' . " .' { , -,.;j,"': ,Wf " Jì L f4 I .:. .h 'iI!!!;'}. "". " ',) I I!..... -, 1:;..' .,' 1, .. ,'. ((,I f '. , ... ::W: , , 1',1 ... I .... :: .....: :; , ' , ' :- - - -: JJ. . ?& { r ' I' / ., .;... .' B . I ' 1k , I J -.W :::: , I . 'j ' %: : {:' .... :;x - - , :: :....' : ,: 1" " '.. :''i. : .. ../ ._ .. \ : t. ' . : . i#;'I, " ..J ""." '- .."....4>- '. " '. :: " 'v." .,,'," <'" ..!. ' "', .. . ,. ...}::: . :, I ;>, , ......>> ,>.......,' 'I.' ,p-- '0 "I , ....:' t .:" .,<. , \ 4 ><<: :I x', " { , r .'" '6!ø ,','. '.)<.'. . -HARRY I RO\VN . thousand for the person who suggested the idea. No check, please; just plain bills. Perfectly plain; no marks on them at all." The two shook hands and disenl- barked in Grand Central. Mr. Carter went to his bank and inl- mediately began embezzling. He fol- lowed Mr. Aberdeen's suggestion to the ] etter. Or almost to the letter. Instead of embezzling forty-five thousand dol- lars, he embezzled eighty-five thousand. Of this, he sent five thousand in plain bills to Mr. i\.berdeen in a plain enve- lope and restored forty thousand to the bank in return for the hank's agreement not to prosecute. \Vith the remaining forty thousand he bought, after a dis- creet interval, a modest cruiser and took his family South. Every morning he reads the paper, with a steadily mounting glow of moral indignation. His regular regime, sea air, and repose of mind have completely restored his digestion. -MORRIS BISHOP